Bayan Cafe: Filipino Food in Midtown?……. I’d rather hop on the 7 train. (CLOSED)

Dear Food Diary:
Ever since my last taste of Filipino food, I’ve been running on a pork and sizzling sisig high for weeks. Like an helpless addict, I wanted more.
I vaguely remembered having some sort of Filipino lunch a while ago at Bayan Cafe, a steaming table full of heavy sauced dishes over white rice, wasn’t too bad. So I rushed over and to my delight Sizzling Sisig (finely chopped crispy pork ear, belly, hot peppers, onions) was on the menu! As ecstatic as I was, a little voice inside kept whispering, “this is midtown, and it can’t be good, get something else”, but I was desperate, and the only way to settle was to shed out $13. Besides, nothing really stood out, and the Chicken Adobo, a popular dish, looked pale and sad.
The first couple bites actually tasted quite good, I must of been delusional or something. Maybe it was hunger, or just pure joy of being able dig into something so foreign for lunch. I couldn’t wait to share about the awesome discovery. Unfortunately those feelings only lasted a couple spoonfuls. The pig ears, my favorite, weren’t crunchy, but chewy (in the worst way possible). Like chewing on a old shoe, not that I would know, but that’s how I imagine it would be. I guess the parts of the pigs head were way over cooked, and rubbery is not a desired texture. Ordered to go, so it wasn’t sizzling, which makes even more sense that it shouldn’t have been this overcooked. Afterwards, I felt really grossed out, my tummy must of been like “@#$#$# what on earth is that!?, I like inners and head cheeses, but this ain’t food”.
So even though Engeline’s is a train ride away, I would rather hop on the 7 train and get my fix there. With all that I ate that night, I felt totally fine and jolly afterwards. Plus on the Express 7 train it actually on takes 20 minutes from Grand Central, so it’s totally doable for a looong lunch.
P.S. Chubby’s RATING:
212 E 45st
212.450.8260

Bayan Cafe on Urbanspoon

8 Responses to Bayan Cafe: Filipino Food in Midtown?……. I’d rather hop on the 7 train. (CLOSED)

  1. Anonymous says:

    Hey!

    So is this really the deal with all 'midtown' food?

    I'm going up there in a couple of months, researching the places I want to go to now though 🙂

    And, with a great metabolism comes ever greater responsibility!

    …I can't go for more than four hours without eating, seriously. I start to starve almost immediately!

  2. Anonymous says:

    oh sorry it didn;t work out yep better take the train and take extra home with u

  3. Anonymous says:

    Gluster,
    Midtown has some really cool places! but some not so good ones always sneak in.

    what are some of the places ur looking into?!

    I'm so jealous of your fat metabolism! I wish you could share some wit me! =) i guess cuz ur still very young!

    Chow,
    yeah totally. it was so disappointing…. bla

  4. Anonymous says:

    Pig ear not my kind of food for sure!!! Yuk… haha…

  5. Anonymous says:

    Dang. Thirteen dollars for lunch??

  6. Anonymous says:

    Sorry the Filipino food you've tasted didn't turn out to be good. Filipino food is supposed to be good. I'm sure you can find a better one. Anthony Bourdain loves the sisig when he visited the Philippines. It's not really my type of food either unless I want to get a heart attack. 😀

  7. Anonymous says:

    My little Space,
    I love the crunchy texture… i guess it's not for everyone…

    Underground,
    $13 for lunch is pretty normal around here…

    Divina,
    SiSig is so good. I did have a really good ones a couple weeks before, that's why I was craving it.
    Yeah Anthony B and all my friends raved about it, and now I love it too =) Once in a while should be ok, no heart attack

  8. Anonymous says:

    Hello!

    I have been reading this forum since last year, and now I encouraged to chronicle here! Look forward to we have some passable things to discuss.

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

eighteen − 8 =